Managment re-shuffle

According to the mornings press Fulham are preparing to move Roy Hodgson upstairs and make John Collins their fourth manager in a year. Hodgson arrived at the club three months ago to try and fix the mess Sanchez has left us in. However with points dropped to Derby and Sunderland in resent games safety looks unlikely to say the least!

Defeat away to Reading on Saturday would leave us almost certainly heading to the second tier. If this was to happen it would pave the way for Collins to return to Craven Cottage, with Hodgson being offered a role as the club's director of football.

Collins was reported to be in the running for the top job at Craven Cottage after Sanchez got sacked but Al Fayed went for the experience of Hodgson to try and steer our beloved team away from the drop.

According to the reports Fulham will start talks with Collins this week, with a view to announcing his appointment when and if they are relegated. The board believes that by acting quickly, it will boost season ticket sales for next season and give the team the best chance of returning to the top flight at the first attempt.

Fulham wish to keep Hodgson as the director of football as they have been impressed with the work that he has done behind the scenes. The Board also wish to keep him as there are few managers with their little black book as full as Hodgson`s during a coaching career that has lasted thirty two years and taken in sixteen positions in eight countries.

Hodgson has repeatedly stated that he wants to keep his job if the club are relegated, but some directors fear that his technical approach to coaching may not be suited to the Championship.

Relegation would cost Fulham to the excess of £45million and Al Fayed is so desperate to be back in the Premier League as soon as possible that he is willing to ignore the club's contractual right to reduce some of players' wages if they are relegated.

It has become standard practice for clubs to insert clauses into players' contracts that allow them to cut their wages by up to 50 per cent after relegation. The club are hoping that, with Collins in charge, Hodgson in the background and with a first-team squad on Premier League wages, they will be back in the top flight within 12 months.

These changes would also see the likelihood of Les Reed (remember him?) being given the boot.

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This is an official club statement:
"The Club would like to inform supporters that articles which appeared in Tuesday’s Times and Daily Mirror newspapers are untrue. Unfounded speculation concerning our football manager’s position is unhelpful, particularly at a time when the Club is focussed on preparing for this weekend’s important fixture at Reading"